Documentation

Introduction

Vault3R is a cross-platform, zero-knowledge password manager. All data is encrypted locally on your device — no cloud, no accounts, no subscriptions.

Key features

Installation (Windows)

Requirements

Portable (recommended)

1. Download Vault3R_portable.zip from the home page.
2. Extract to any folder (e.g. C:\Tools\Vault3R).
3. Run Vault3R.exe.
4. No installation required — the app is fully portable.

Installer

1. Download Vault3R_Setup.exe.
2. Run the installer (per-user, no admin required).
3. Launch from Start menu or desktop shortcut.

Updates

Check for updates: Settings → About → Check for Updates. If a new version is available, the app opens the download page.

Installation (Android)

Requirements

Install from APK

1. Download Vault3R_Android.apk from get.vault3r.pl.
2. On your phone: Settings → Security → allow installing from unknown sources for your browser.
3. Open the downloaded APK and tap Install.
4. Launch Vault3R.

Installation (iOS)

Requirements

Install via sideload (IPA)

1. Download Vault3R_iOS.ipa from get.vault3r.pl.
2. Install using AltStore, SideLoadly, or TrollStore.
3. Trust the developer certificate if prompted: Settings → General → VPN & Device Management.
4. Launch Vault3R.

Features

• Face ID / Touch ID unlock
• PIN unlock (6-8 digits with Secure Enclave protection)
• AutoFill extension (Safari & apps)
• Encrypted device sync with Windows & Android
• Secure Notes, TOTP, Vault Health
• 11 themes (identical to Desktop & Android)

First run

Create a new vault

1. Open Vault3R.
2. Click New Vault (or Create Vault on Android).
3. Enter your master password (minimum 6 characters) and confirm it.
4. On Android/iOS: set a PIN (6-8 digits) and optionally enable biometrics.

Restore from backup

1. On the login screen, choose Restore from backup (.vlt).
2. Select the .vlt file.
3. Enter the master password from when the backup was created.

Trial & license

Windows — trial mode

• 7 days free trial from first launch — full functionality.
• After trial expiry, the app requires a license key to continue.

Activation

1. Purchase a license at get.vault3r.pl (~$5 USD, Stellar XLM).
2. The license key (V3R-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) will be emailed to you.
3. In the app: 🔑 Activate License → paste the key → Activate.

Premium features

• 3 premium themes: Premium Metal, Premium Dark, Premium Navy (with glow effects)
• All functionality is identical between trial and licensed (except premium themes)

Android

Android is free during the open beta. Same license key works on Android for premium themes.

Desktop — Main window

The main window is your command center. It contains a sidebar with categories, a toolbar, and the password list.

Login methods

The app automatically selects the fastest unlock method (in order of preference):

Sidebar categories

• All — every entry in the vault
• Favorites — entries marked with ⭐
• Custom categories — auto-generated from entry categories
• ▲ / ▼ buttons — reorder categories (order is saved)

Password list columns

Toolbar

"More" menu

Copy Password, Launch URL, Generate Password, Secure Notes, Vault Health, Settings, Import/Export, Sync Send/Receive, Backups, Change Password, Lock Now, Panic Mode, Logout.

Desktop — Password entries

Adding an entry

1. Click ➕ Add or use the menu.
2. Fill in the form: Name, Login/Email, Password (required). Optional: URL, Category, Tags, Notes.
3. Use the "Gen." button to generate a strong password.
4. Click Save.

Copying a password

• Click the 📋 icon next to any password.
• The password is copied to clipboard for 30 seconds, then automatically cleared.
• The password is excluded from Windows Clipboard History (Win+V) and cloud sync.

Revealing a password

• Click the 👁 icon — password is visible for 10 seconds, then auto-hides.

Desktop — Secure Notes

1. Menu → Secure Notes.
2. Left panel: list with search. Right panel: editor.
3. Click New Note → fill title, tags, content.
4. Click Save — note encrypted with AES-256-GCM.

Notes support searching by title, content, and tags. Each note has timestamps (Created / Updated).

Desktop — Password generator

• Access: Menu → Generate Password or "Gen." in the entry form.
• Length: 8–64 characters (slider).
• Symbols: toggle "Include Symbols" on/off.
• Strength meter: 0–100 score with description (Very Weak → Very Strong).
• Uses cryptographically secure random number generator (CSPRNG).
• Every generated password contains at least: 1 uppercase, 1 lowercase, 1 digit (+ 1 symbol if enabled).

Desktop — Vault Health & HIBP

Menu → Vault Health. Automatic analysis of your vault:

Desktop — Settings

Desktop — System tray

Closing the window hides the app to the system tray (first time: a tooltip explains this).

Double-click the tray icon to open the app.

Desktop — Keyboard shortcuts

Android — Unlock methods

Android — Autofill service

Enable autofill

1. Go to Android Settings → Passwords & autofill (or Security → Autofill service).
2. Select Vault3R as your autofill provider.
3. Login fields in apps and browsers will now show Vault3R suggestions.

Supported browsers

Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Opera, Samsung Internet, DuckDuckGo Browser.

Features

• Inline suggestions (Android 11+) — credentials appear in the keyboard area
• Save prompt — after manual login, Vault3R offers to save credentials
• In-context password generator — generate and fill a strong password

Android — TOTP codes

• Add TOTP to any entry: enter a base32 secret or scan an otpauth:// QR code.
• Dedicated TOTP screen with all codes, formatted as XXX XXX.
• Visual countdown (30s cycle) — tap to copy.
• Supports SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512 algorithms.

Android — Quick Settings tiles

Vault3R adds a tile to Android's notification shade (swipe down from top):

• Tap tile → opens Vault3R instantly
• Quick access without finding the app icon

Android — Vault Health

Menu → Vault Health. Same checks as desktop:

• Overall score: 0–100% with color coding (red / yellow / green)
• Weak passwords, reused passwords, missing URLs

iOS — Unlock methods

After creating a vault, set up quick unlock:

• Face ID / Touch ID: Settings → Enable Biometrics. Uses Secure Enclave to protect the master key.
• PIN (6-8 digits): Keychain-backed with brute-force lockout after 5 failed attempts.
• TOTP: Google Authenticator compatible 6-digit code.

iOS — AutoFill extension

Vault3R includes a Credential Provider extension for system-wide AutoFill:

1. Go to iOS Settings → Passwords → AutoFill Passwords.
2. Enable Vault3R as a provider.
3. When a login form appears in Safari or any app, tap the key icon and select from your vault.

iOS — Device sync

Identical to Android sync. Pair with Desktop or Android via QR code, then send/receive encrypted vault snapshots through the ephemeral relay.

• TLS certificate pinning (SPKI SHA-256) protects relay connections
• AES-256-GCM encryption with unique pairing key per device pair
• Push notifications when a sync is available from a paired device

Encrypted device sync

Vault3R is a local-first password manager. Sync uses an encrypted ephemeral relay — no cloud storage, no accounts, zero knowledge.

How it works

1. Pair devices (one-time): scan QR code to share a 256-bit pairing key.
2. Send: vault is encrypted with the pairing key (AES-256-GCM) and uploaded to relay.
3. Receive: receiver downloads and decrypts. Blob auto-deletes from relay.
4. Data is merged, not overwritten — new entries added, existing preserved.

Device pairing

Pair desktop ↔ Android

1. Desktop: Settings → Device Sync → Pair New Device → QR code appears.
2. Android: Settings → Device Sync → Scan QR Code → scan the code.
3. Confirmation is automatic (polling up to 5 minutes).
4. You can pair multiple devices — each gets its own key and channel.

Manage paired devices

• View all paired devices in Settings → Device Sync.
• Unpair individual devices or unpair all.
• Pairing keys are protected with DPAPI (Windows) or EncryptedSharedPreferences (Android).

Import / Export

Import from another manager

1. Export a CSV from your current password manager (Bitwarden, LastPass, KeePass, etc.).
2. In Vault3R: Menu → Import → select the CSV file.
3. Vault3R auto-detects the format, separator, and encoding.
4. Choose Merge (add to existing) or Replace (overwrite).

Backup & Restore

Auto-backup (Desktop)

• Settings → Backup → enable Auto backup on exit.
• Creates encrypted backup on every app close.
• Location: %AppData%\Vault3R\Backups\
• Retention: max 50 files, 30-day rolling window.

Manual backup

1. Menu → Backups.
2. Click Create Backup.
3. Encrypted .vlt file created instantly.

Restore

1. In Backup Manager, select a backup file.
2. Choose restore mode:
   • Overwrite — replace current vault entirely (requires confirmation).
   • Merge — add entries from backup, keep existing ones.

Security overview

Encryption details

Encryption versions

* v3 runs PBKDF2 once at vault open, then reuses the derived key for all operations.

v2 encryption scheme

Password verifier

Vault file format (VLTDB)

The vault is stored as a binary file with gzip compression and SHA-256 integrity verification.

Payload structure

Each entry and note is encrypted individually (per-entry encryption). Corrupting one entry doesn't affect the rest.

PIN / TOTP / Biometric unlock

PIN (Desktop & Android)

The PIN encrypts the master password locally. Correct PIN → decrypt → master password → open vault.

TOTP unlock (Desktop)

Biometrics (Android)

• Hardware-backed AndroidKeyStore + BiometricPrompt
• Master password encrypted with biometric-gated AES key
• setUserAuthenticationRequired(true) — requires auth per operation

Brute-force protection

Exponential backoff

Persistence (since v4.3.6)

Lockout state is saved to disk (lockout.json). Restarting the app does not reset the counter. The state auto-clears after 10 minutes of cooldown.

Clipboard security

Desktop (Windows)

• Atomic clipboard write via Win32 API (no race conditions with clipboard monitors)
• Auto-clear after 30 seconds (only if clipboard hasn't been changed by user)
• Excluded from Windows Clipboard History (Win+V) via ExcludeClipboardContentFromMonitorProcessing
• Excluded from Cloud Clipboard (cross-device sync)

Android

• ClipboardClearService (foreground service) clears after 30 seconds
• Notification shows countdown

Architecture — System overview

Architecture — Desktop services

Architecture — Android modules

Architecture — iOS modules

Architecture — Backend API

File locations

Windows

Android

Troubleshooting

FAQ